Pirate Bay Takes Part in “Blackout for Hungary”

Online protest against Hungary’s new media law that critics say could require journalists to reveal their sources and bloggers to register with the govt.

Swedish BitTorrent tracker site The Pirate Bay is one of many sites that are taking part in today’s “Blackout for Hungary” protest against the country’s controversial new media law that took effect at the start of the new year.

The law creates a new regulatory panel called the National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH) with the power to monitor newspapers, television broadcasts, and other media for signs of “unbalanced” or “offensive” reporting with the threat of fines for those journalists or news outlets that don’t comply.

It can issue fines for coverage that infringes upon human dignity, offends common morals, or fails to cover events of public interest.

Critics say it will increase government regulation of the Internet, requiring all bloggers to register with the govt. A number of sites have joined together for the “Blackout for Hungary” in protest.

From the Blackout for Hungary site:

On the 21st of December the party holding the majority of the Hungarian parliament voted in favor of a new media law that is a collection of some of the most oppressive and undemocratic laws from all over Europe including some worrying additions.

To show our concern for fundamental rights and free speech we black out our online presence on the 5th January 2011 for at least 24 hours.

Sites can show their “outrage and solidarity with the Hungarian media” by including an HTML snippets that will automatically add a similar black splashscreen.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the law will severely restrict print and online media, which runs counter to OSCE standards.

“Regulating print media can curb media freedom and free public debate, which are indispensable elements of democracies,” wrote OSCE media freedom representative Dunja Mijatovic in a report. “Regulating online media is not only technologically impossible but it exerts a chilling, self-censoring effect on free expression.”

The govt’s state secretary, Zoltan Kovacs, says this isn’t true, that the law won’t cover private websites or blogs unless they provide “mass information.”

He also defended the law’s application of regulations formerly limited to television and radio to online and printed media, saying that the “convergence of media content distribution and the convergence of media platforms […] corroborate the necessity to legislate.”

“Content that is broadcast on television is immediately available on the channel’s website,” he writes an letter rebutting criticisms of the new law. Similarly, all printed outlets are available online. These fundamental rules should be enforced uniformly for all outlets, otherwise loopholes could easily emerge in the regulation.”

Perhaps the biggest fear of all is that it could force media to reveal their confidential sources.

“Media can be forced to reveal their sources, the media authority can search editorial offices, can copy reporters’ notes and mandate that publishers hand over confidential business information and levy serious fines on those that refuse,” said the Budapest-based daily Nepszabadsag.

Other member countries of the European Union have criticized the law as being “incompatible” with the idea of the freedom of the press. The German govt, in an unprecedented move, has even pushed to limit Hungary’s role in negotiations with other countries during its EU presidency for being unfit to represent European values.